Magical Society
by Thisisfunwhattooksolong
Summary: Megan tries to hold an open day for junior heroes and enlists help, meanwhile Billy and Nico are fed up with Strange never getting round to teaching them so they decide to seek a teacher elsewhere - enter Magik.


**Disclaimer:** As standard.

**An:** So I heard about the plans for Strange Academy and I just thought 'Yeah, Doctor Strange always talks about training the next generation of magic heroes' - _talks_ being the operative word. And then I remembered having come up with an idea for this back when dhalpin3 was challenging(/begging) people to use Illyana more, and I'd thought to myself 'What if Billy and Nico got fed up with waiting until the twelfth of never when Stephen Strange has some free time and asked her to teach them instead?' The Megan's open-day plot grew from another bunny that I'm not even sure about.

Also I want to credit the closing line of this chapter to the aforementioned dhalpin3. He's also the reason I thought to use teleporting in a certain way (you'll know when you come to it).

**Timing:** So while this isn't an exact moment and probably doesn't fit perfectly it is supposed to fit in a general era. IvX has already happened, Scott the Younger is still with The Champions, the current Runaways book hasn't started yet but the status quo it starts on is there, America's and Kate's road trip has already happened, Cassie is still Stature, Laura's still Wolverine, Nadia's around but hasn't done much yet (I think Ying might still have the bomb in her head at this time but that's not likely to come up). I feel like I've missed someone important.

* * *

"This blows," Billy complained to his boyfriend, causing him to look up from the couch. "Once again Doctor Strange has found some garbled excuse; he's never going to teach me at this rate."

Billy had once again asked the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth when they were going to start training, and once again he'd received a non-answer.

"You've only just figured that out?" It seemed Teddy was less than sympathetic to his plight. "That man will still be making excuses not to teach you into the 22nd century."

"And then the 23rd." Kate was also offering her opinion from the table, her bow resting against a chair. "Billy, seriously, that man's not worth it." Now under normal circumstances Billy would be more than happy to come home to find her visiting but not when she was belittling his problems. Still, she was still his friend so he wouldn't blow up at her.

Instead he lowered his head before joining Teddy on the couch, head coming to rest on his boyfriend's chest. "Then what am I supposed to do guys? Kate, Clint adores you and honestly you're already a better avenger _and_ a better Hawkeye than he is anyway…"

"Aww, thanks Billy."

"…but the only one who could help me won't," he sulked. He knew he was sulking but this was his home and so he felt he had every right to sulk in it.

"There's always Wanda." Teddy circled a hand over Billy's chest in what was probably an attempt to sooth him. Billy snorted. His not-actual-mother was around but she wasn't exactly approachable, for teaching him or anything else. Nonetheless he twisted around so that he could stretch his arms out and around Teddy in a hug, sliding up so that they were brushing cheeks to try and relax.

"OK, if you two are gonna get it on then could you please warn me first? I love you both but there's only so much of either of you that I wanna see."

Teddy laughed and raised his head at her. "Don't worry Kate. One day you'll find a guy to get frisky with. Well, either a guy or America obviously."

Kate groaned and though he couldn't see her Billy was certain she was rolling her eyes. "That's not because I want to bang America, that's because there's a…"

"Part of you that's jealous of her powers and another part that finds her refreshing and yet another part that wants a super mushy relationship for yourself too," Billy and Teddy chorused. That conversation had come up a lot. Not that Billy or Teddy for that matter seriously thought Kate wanted to start a romantic relationship with the portal puncher but that joke just runs and runs.

This time Billy was sure he somehow _heard_ her frown. "Not how I would've phrased it. Can we please go back to Billy being depressed because Strange is refusing to teach him?"

Billy groaned as his thoughts returned to his latest attempt to get Strange to do as he'd promised and instruct him in magic. He let out a sigh and tightened his hug, feeling a bit better when Teddy did likewise.

"Hey, wait a sec." Kate walked over to them. "Is it just you or is Strange refusing to teach everyone?"

"What do you mean?" Billy asked.

She stared at him. "Well, didn't Strange also vow to teach Nico? And I'm sure there were others as well."

Billy blinked. And then again. "I don't know. To be honest I don't exactly speak to them."

"So much for not repeating the mistakes of our predecessors, huh." Teddy chuckled, and Billy felt a hand running through his hair.

"Well, have either of you kept in touch with everyone?" Billy asked with just the tiniest hint of exasperation.

"Well, uh, not exactly. Not everyone," Teddy replied. "But I do still talk to people with similar powers to me. Y'know, bounce ideas off them and so on. For instance Humberto and I were discussing aerial tackles earlier today. Plus I talk to a few more people that seem interesting."

Billy frowned again. There was something about Reptil that rubbed him the wrong way. He knew it was probably nothing but he'd never entirely trusted the Academy student. And when he'd last spoken to them neither the Pride Kids or the former junior X-Men had had anything good to say about him either. Well, except Laura – at least by her standards – but while he had nothing personally against her what he knew of her didn't lead him to think that her support was a ringing endorsement. (As she hadn't tried to assassinate him she was better than the old Wolverine however.)

"Then ask them about Strange," suggested Kate. "Best case scenario, you get to gripe to each other." She grinned at him. "You know, instead of us. Every time we see you. Trust me, your whining (however justified it might be) is driving Cassie, America and David mad too."

"That's a-" Billy broke off, thoughts spinning though his head. "That's actually a good idea."

Teddy spoke up. "You should do that, right now. As much as I enjoy being used as a pillow your elbow's kinda-"

Billy yanked his arms back. "Sorry."

Teddy reached out one of his hands and moved Billy's to a better position against the top of his leg. "It's OK. Now, why don't you contact them and then I fully intend on making the most of our time together. Kate, consider that your fair warning."

* * *

It was quite sad actually, Megan thought to herself, that it was Friday night tomorrow and she hadn't already made other plans – her social life had really gone down the loo since… well, since moving to Utopia if she was honest. Not that she didn't want to see Billy – the magical Young Avenger was certain to be fun company and frankly she had some things she wanted to say about their non-teacher too.

It's just, it was a Friday night and she'd had nothing to do. Sure she'd replied to Fiona's e-mail earlier but that was all. She wished things with the inhumans hadn't gone so wrong – she missed seeing her in person.

In addition to that she was just so very bored – it was like her life had already peaked. She hadn't really enjoyed the fact that Hope Summers used to use her as a substitute for the Blackbird but even that was preferable to the utter boredom that she'd been experiencing at the school lately – she was an X-Man but she wasn't on a team and that was a dull combination.

She knew the boredom in her non-heroic life at least was in part her own fault because the last time she went out with her friends it hadn't been enjoyable for her and she had, in her frustration, put that into words. Her former Paragons squadmate Hope (that's Trance, the other Hope) had decided a group of them should go out clothes shopping, and Megan had thought 'great fun', right up until some of their friends had realised she could use her teleporting spell to take them all to what felt like each and every shopping district on the planet in turn. Somewhere between Hue and Islamabad she'd gone from 'this is fun' to 'why me?' but she'd managed to hold in her frustration until she reached Jerusalem five hours later which was rather impressive if she did say so herself.

"Are you OK?"

"Huh?" Megan was brought back to reality by the teenage Jean Grey in front of her. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I was miles away."

"Your wings are drooping. It's making you look upset," Jean told her, hand playing with the hair around her left ear. "So is something wrong?"

Megan frowned. She hadn't realised they were doing that and made an effort to pull them back up. "Just bad memories."

"Oh, I see. Is it Limbo? Belasco?" she asked opening her arms.

"It wasn't," replied Megan as her mind turned to those very things. "How did you know about them?"

With a sharp gasp Jean placed her hand over her mouth, before removing it as she lowered her head in order to answer the question. "I accidentally read your mind one time. I didn't mean to. I just can't always stop myself. Sorry."

"Well, you know what, it doesn't matter this time because believe it or not I actually have a reason to be pleased." Megan clapped her hands together, thoughts of her friends forcing the bad stuff out of her head. "A friend I haven't seen in forever has asked me to hang out with him."

"OK, well, hope you have more fun than you were having a moment ago." Jean gave her a comforting pat and walked on. "I wonder what my teammates are doing tonight?"

(As it turned out Warren was with Laura and Gabby [and their pet wolverine]. Scott was with some of his Champions team – out of all of them Jean had only met Ms. Marvel but even given the circumstances they met under [a battlefield where Frost forgot that if mutantkind have to choose between fighting a sentinel and fighting an inhuman they pick the sentinel almost every time] she had to admit that New Jersey's finest really was a great girl. Bobby was with his boyfriend, but Henry was totally free and just doing his best to avoid her.)

Megan meanwhile rounded a corner. "Oh well, may as well make sure everything's ready." And then she cast her teleport spell back upstairs, her mind already wondering just how she should greet her sadly distant friend, unconsciously humming the Neighbours theme song as she did so.

* * *

Nico on the other hand was struggling to hide how pleased was when she received Billy's invitation, and only managed because nobody who knew her was around. She would never admit it but she was desperately lonely. She'd left the people she considered her family in order to join Singularity's superhero team and it had been good despite Medusa and Dazzler not really getting along but it had disbanded and left her all alone.

She really missed her fellow runaways. She's fought both the X-Men and the Avengers to keep Molly and Klara, and then partially as a result of A-Force taking so much of her time she'd lost them – Molly to her grandmother and Klara to a foster home, and while they still wrote to each other it wasn't the same.

Karolina was always studying hard, and on the rare times she wasn't she was with her girlfriend and simply didn't have the time to talk to her any more. And Nico couldn't even blame Julie – Karolina's superhero/student/part-time actress girlfriend had one of the biggest hearts Nico had ever seen (behind Molly and Karolina herself of course) and if Nico said anything along the lines of 'sorry but I'm a little upset right now and I really need my best friend for a moment' to her then Nico had no doubt Julie would not only leave them for as long as she needed but would probably buy her balloons or something equally sickeningly over-sweet or childish in an attempt to cheer her up. But of course she would never specifically ask her best friend to hang out with her – she had her pride after all, even if she despised the word.

And she had no idea where Chase and Old Lace were. And of course she missed Victor and Gert too.

So naturally she was overjoyed when she received Billy's invite. She and her fellow runaways had always had a great relationship with the Young Avengers, ever since they risked all to help them in that Civil War mess, and Billy and Teddy in particular paid a heavy price for doing so. And even before that they'd been friends. Sort of. She wondered if anyone else had been invited as she hurried to pick out one of her enormously flared miniskirts especially.

* * *

Billy paced around his apartment, his staff beating in rhythm against the wooden floor, wondering if anyone would answer his emergency meeting of the newly dubbed ad hoc junior magic society. He needn't have worried. He asked to meet at 6 and dead on there was a squeal of "Billy", two arms around him and a mutant fairy filling his vision.

"How've you been? Still Young Avenging? There's a rumour going round that someone's planning to release Avengers Lego minifigures (probably Lego I guess) – is that true and if so what do you think of that? How's Teddy? I was wondering, if you feed him ice-cream then does he grow antlers? How's Tommy? Did you see the latest Star Wars film? Did you see Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them? Do you think Descendants is ripping of Ever After High? Actually have you ever seen Ever After High? Now that I think about it we in the X-Mansion could use another opinion on whether or not Darling is gay and/or trans. Personally I think she's still a girl who just doesn't fit the in-universe stereotype of what a girl is (and yes is probably gay) but I can see why some of my classmates think otherwise. What else, um, Hope Summers recently gave me the Percy Jackson 6-book box set – have you ever read them? Who's your favourite character? So far I've only read the first two and The Demigod files but I think the character I'm most eager to see more of is probably Silena – I know she's not a main character but that thing with the dragon really made her look interesting. Anyway, what about you?"

It was all Billy could do to stare at her and blink, his brain unable to process all of that. Megan laughed.

"I guess the only thing I didn't ask you was 'Got broadband?'. Sorry, stupid me; I can go a bit overboard sometimes. I'm just so pleased to see you."

Billy was saved answering this time by a blast of golden light, before Nico walked out towards them, clad completely in an almost-black shade of purple – thick tights that stopped just below her neck (was that a unitard? A catsuit? Billy understood quite a few things but fashion terminology wasn't one of them), a ruffling miniskirt, and a waistcoat that turned into drapes hanging down on either side. Oh, and she also wore shoes but as little an expert as he might be on fashion in general he knew nothing about different types of footwear and certainly not enough to second guess the proud-of-her-style Nico.

Billy found himself dragged over to her as Megan pulled them all into a three-way hug and proceeded to start giving Nico almost as many questions as she'd bombarded him with.

"There are limits to what I'm willing to take Glitterbug. If you don't tone it down a notch then I'm leaving. Billy, it's nice to see you but you didn't say it would involve well, this." Nico gestured to Pixie's overly enthusiastic hugging.

"You don't like it?" Megan pulled back splitting up their hug, eyes turned towards the ground.

"Too much too soon."

"Sorry. Let's start again." She seemed to Billy's eyes to suddenly perk back up. "Hello, my name's Megan, what's yours?" She held her hand out in greeting.

Wait? Had they not actually met each other before? Billy tried to remember what he knew of both of them and sure enough was drawing a blank on them ever being together.

"Uh, Nico." Slowly and with no small amount of trepidation she took the proffered hand.

"Hi Nico, let's be friends."

Clearly the introductions were going to take a while so Billy decided to apply the same approach to hospitality as Sheldon Cooper (though he hoped a little better), if only to get them out of the metaphorical doorway. "Can I get either of you a drink?"

Megan turned back to him. "Do you have any orange juice?"

"Coffee please," said Nico. "If I have to listen to this all night then I'm going to need caffeine."

Billy fixed up the requested drinks and soon they were sat around his table, introductions over, magical backgrounds exchanged, and finally discussing Doctor Strange and the constant backing out of teaching them anything. Billy had told them all of his frustrations with the man and now they were joining in.

"What did Strange say to you last time Megan?" Nico asked, resting her staff over her knees.

Megan snorted before setting her voice to her very best Stephen Strange impersonation. "I can't do it now because I have to unclog a chicken soup nozzle."

"Really?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"No, but he might as well have."

That made a fair bit more sense.

"What are we gonna do?" Billy asked. "It's been like this for ages now and he's not going to change."

Megan tapped her foot against the table leg. Nico on the other hand played with her hands.

"My grandmother tried to teach me magic." Nico didn't meet his gaze. "It was a cruel trick of course – she was a supervillain after all – but the learning part was real enough. Does it have to be Strange? Is there no one else?"

"Who would you ask?" asked Billy. "Doctor Doom? Baron What's-his-face? Kang the Conqueror?"

Nico sighed. "I don't know, it was just an idea. Why can't Scarlet Witch do it?"

Billy smiled thinking of her. It was a question he'd had a long time to ponder but he'd never really managed to explain it out loud before. "She's loving and friendly and almost my mother but she's been a little off lately and is very prone to mind control and possession. I'm worried either she would be used to hurt us, or us used to hurt her. The last time we rescued her from something like that, at my insistence I add, we lost Cassie, at least until Doom broke the universe bringing her back. I can't let that happen again. I think I need to be my fully trained adult self – The Demiurge – before I can be a major part in her um, professional life again."

"The X-Men don't trust Wanda," Megan piped up. "Rightly or wrongly, I don't know." Billy tried not to frown in turn. The X-Men had actively opposed his attempt to rescue her and he still hadn't completely forgiven Cyclops and the others on that team for that.

"And I don't trust them," snapped Nico, "though I accept you weren't on the particular junior team that tried to kidnap Molly."

"They what?" Megan's eyes widened. "Who was it? What happened?"

Nico shrugged. "The notable ones were a speedster with lightning, a girl who turned into sand and a werewolf. Anyway we beat the snot out of them and they agreed they weren't supposed to force people onto that fetid heap you guys ironically referred to as 'Utopia'."

"Nico I swear, if I'd known I'd have…" A wistful look grew in Megan's eyes. "I'd have sat Nicky down and told him that I was very very disappointed."

Billy shook his head, he would never fully understand Megan. And nor did Nico.

"This was while you only had half a soul remember and Magik was trying to find the rest of it. You'd have been 'Very very disappointed', really?"

"Look, I miss him, OK."

Megan's angry (by Megan standards) retort went unacknowledged by Billy and Nico, who were both thinking the same thought: "Wait a moment, did someone say Magik?"

"Um, what?" Megan asked.

"Well, think about it," said Billy. "She's one of the ones training the time-displaced or alternate reality or whatever original X-Men isn't she so she knows how to teach? And she obviously understands magic so why not?"

Megan choked on her orange juice, coughing it out while gesturing wildly. "I don't think we've given the Doctor Doom suggestion enough thought."

"Current Iron Man and thus maybe a hero or not, Doctor Doom isn't a teacher," Nico put in, "and nor for that matter is Strange. But as against the odds as it might be Magik is." She winked at Megan. "And frankly I'm getting desperate – I'm running out of words. In fact I'm running out of languages."

"Well, you must do what's just right for you of course but on your soul be it," Megan warned.

"You won't come with us?" Billy asked. He'd _so_ wanted to take just one class in his life with people who liked him.

Megan actually snarled. "I'd rather be chained naked before Empath and all of his cronies (and may his blindness last forever) than spend time with her. Besides, this has given me an idea for a new project. Every time any of us meet each other, we always agree not to make the same mistakes the older guys did and be friends forever, but then we never see each other. I'm going to do something to change that."

Billy chuckled a little. "You might wanna talk to Teddy and Kate – they've been on my case about that too. And Cassie." Left unsaid was that in Cassie's case she was speaking for herself as much as Billy – there was a new Wasp that she wanted to meet and somehow kept missing.

Megan's eyes snapped up at him so fast he was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "Oh yeah, I meant to ask, is there something going on between Kate and America?"

Billy burst out laughing, placing a hand on her shoulder partly for support and partly in an attempt to show that he was laughing with her rather than at her. "You… see it… too? Kate insists there isn't."

"Anyway Billy, Nico, hug? If you are determined to go to _her_ then I want you to know that as much as I wish you weren't going I also wish you the best."

Billy twisted her into his arms and this time it was a much more sombre mutant fairy that clung first to him and then Nico, hands and eyes darting around as if trying to commit the pair of them to memory and Billy knew that for some reason Megan thought she would never see them again. He wondered if she knew something he'd missed and he wondered if it was indeed a bad idea. He knew Magik was involved in Megan losing chunks of her soul but she herself had been without one at that time too and since recovering it – and Megan's let's not forget – Magik had been a respected member of the X-Men (well, as respected as X-Men members ever get anyway). No, he thought to himself, she must be just stuck in the past.

"Good luck," she whispered as Billy began chanting his teleport spell.

"I want me and Nico to be near Magik. I want me and Nico to be near Magik…"

Needing to get away Megan cast her own teleport spell and one "Shial novarum chinoth" later she was standing in the equine world of My Little Pony. Jumping into fictional universes was hard and it wasn't quite the one she was aiming for (she was hoping for 'Spot') but it would do. As all manner of ponies gathered around the curious creature that had fallen out of a smokey pink disc in their town square Megan allowed herself to weep for the latest friends she had failed to save. She didn't react when some of the more adventurous ponies nuzzled up to her, followed by the what felt like the whole town once they realised she was upset – she just cried.

She would work on 'Operation Help Young Heroes Stay Friends' (working title) later – she owed Billy that much, but first she needed to get this off her chest.

Meanwhile Billy and Nico had landed in a wasteland and a second after landing and Billy started to wonder if they hadn't just made a terrible mistake. Fire stained not only the ground but the very air itself, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. He felt a tug on his arm and jumped in alarm, before realising it was only Nico, trembling even more than he was.

"No risk no chance, right?" she said as she hugged into him.

"Right." Billy took a step forward and the ground broke beneath them sending them sliding down towards a cavern of some sort, every jagged rock they met tearing at their flesh and every smoulder and every plume of flame stinging against their skin. It was all Billy could do to repeat "I want us to be healed" over and over as they slid down. He saw _things_ in the distance, almost certainly demons of some description, looking their way and he could have sworn they were laughing as the two of them impacted a wall, before a rock jutted out from said wall to catch them, lowering itself above the cavern floor before upending itself like a jug and sending them sprawling to the floor.

Billy repeated his healing spell a couple more times and the spots receded from his eyes. It seemed the rock dumped them at the bottom of a row of dirty black stone stairs, fire randomly spurting from the cracks. Atop the staircase was a throne – a monstrosity of a throne but a throne nonetheless. And sat in that throne, eyes burning with golden fire, was their host.

A breastplate of a type hung from the right shoulder and a humongous sword rested on bare legs. Thick boots covered the feet, and long blonde hair shimmered upon the head with untold power flickering in a crown of flaming light.

They had wanted someone who could teach them magic, and that was what they had received.

As he stared upon the woman who ruled this realm, as powerful as she was dangerous, he realised she could just as easily obliterate them as help them, and not for the first time he wondered if this plan really was so good.

She frowned as she looked down at them, eyes drilling into their very souls. Why had he not listened to Megan? Why had they come here? Soon her lips formed into what could have been a wry smile but could also be a hungry alligator.

"You could have tried email first."

* * *

**An2:** So, what did you think of that start?

(Also, I might change the name if I can think of a better one.)


End file.
